Orbán cabinet: Austria migration proposal ‘more realistic’

The migration proposal by European Union presidency-holder Austria is “more realistic” but is still far from “having an acceptable outline”, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said, referring to the Brussels summit of EU heads of state and government.

Kovács told public television M1 late on Thursday that effective border protection exists and can be organised not only on land but also at the sea borders. However,

proposals supported in Brussels and also in Germany aim at legalising migration,

he added.

He said the summit had failed to bring about agreement and this would not be possible under current conditions, he said, referring to plans for common border protection and establishing a migration agency. These would clearly hurt member states’ sovereignty while failing to contribute to effective border protection, he added.

The Hungarian government has been saying for the last three years that it expresses solidarity with Europe by enforcing the regulations to protect the border, “an obligation and primary interest”, Kovács said.

The EU has not granted any money for the costs Hungary has incurred, he said, adding that the 30 million euros approved has not yet been transferred.

Majority support for migration reform in the European Parliament would contravene the basic treaty stating member states have powers over border protection and immigration.